Grunt's Special Friend
by ItestedGarrus'Reach
Summary: Grunt is hiding something and Shepard wants to know.


"Grunt's Special Friend"

Shepard was pacing restlessly up and down the Engineering corridor. She couldn't figure out what was wrong with Grunt. The past few weeks he had locked himself in the Cargo Hold occasionally stepping out to grab a bite to eat. Different scenarios went through her mind trying to figure out what could have cause this sudden behavior. She couldn't help but think that maybe it was something she had said or done. The last time she had spoken to him was at the Citadel right after helping Garrus deal with Sidonis. Had her decision of letting Sidonis go alter in any way his view of her as a commander? Determined to find out she walked towards the Cargo Hold door only to be stopped by a peculiar noise. She leaned in, placing an ear to the door in an effort to listen more closely.

_Purring? Grunt is purring? _

Shepard knocked on the cargo hold door. She didn't want to just barge in for fear that Grunt could react violently to her sudden intrusion. Again she heard that noise.

"Grunt? Is it okay if I come in?" Shepard stepped away from the door waiting for a reply.

"NO! DON'T COME IN HERE! I DON'T WANT ANYONE IN HERE!" Grunts voice was loud and aggravated.

"I've had enough of this Grunt! I'm coming in whether you like it or not!" The commander keyed in the access code and door hissed open. As she stepped in she saw Grunt scurry to the back of the room and stash something behind his pod.

"What is going on Grunt? I've had enough of this behavior of yours. Tell me know before I shove you out the airlock!" Grunt looked at the commander with threatening eyes. She started walking towards the back of the cargo hold where she had seen Grunt hid something intent on finding out what it was. Grunt blocked her path and bared his teeth at her.

"Grunt if something is wrong I need to know. I need my crew to be well in order to defeat the collectors. Shepard tried to push him aside but was knocked back by a very load roar. Shepard sat on the floor giving Grunt her most deadly stare. As she was standing up she saw what seemed like a tiny animal jump out from behind the pod and make its way towards the open door of the cargo hold.

As the tiny creature ran out of the door Grunt started to panic. He pushed past Shepard in a hasty chase to capture the creature.

"Come back! Don't leave me Mr. Wiggums!" Grunt's heavy footsteps getting farther and farther away. Shepard was still in the floor, shocked.

_What the hell was that?_

1-1-1-1

Shepard stepped out of the elevator and into the CIC still wondering what had happened with Grunt. As she looked up she saw Grunt standing next to Yeoman Chambers, a content look in his face. Kelly was holding the creature that had escaped Grunts room in her arms. Shepard stepped closer only to see that what Kelly was holding was a tiny orange kitten.

_Grunt was hiding a cat in his room? Is that why he was acting like that? _

Shepard couldn't help but burst out in laugher. Grunt turned to gaze at her and gave her a muffled grunt.

"He's so cute Grunt! Aw! You're so cute Mr. Wiggums! Yes you are!" Kelly spoke to the cat in a childish voice. Shepard walked up to Grunt and Kelly as soon as her outburst of laughter had subsided.

"Gr… Grunt… I didn't know you had a soft spot for little animals. It's… It's so… I'm sorry. Is this why you… locked yourself in there? Cause you thought… we would make fun of you?" Shepard said in between chuckles. She held out her arms and reached for the tiny offender. She thought it was kind of cute. Here you had this big monstrous Krogan and he had a soft spot for kittens. Who knew?

When all the commotion was finally over Grunt grabbed his tiny friend and perched it on his shoulder. He turned and slowly walked towards the elevator. As he entered he turned around to give Shepard one last glare. "Goodbye Mr. Wiggums! Come back and visit me soon!" The Yeoman waved at them as the elevator door was shut.

10101010

Down in her hidey hole Jack was walking around in boredom. Shepard hadn't taken her on any missions lately and she had just about read and reread all the Cerberus files Shepard had given her. With nothing else to do she opted to go to the Mess Hall and snatch something to eat. As she made her way up the stairs she heard heavy footsteps walking down the corridor.

_Finally that stupid Krogan decides to leave his room. His pacing was driving me mad!_

Jack stepped out into the corridor when she saw Grunt walking towards the cargo hold. She fixated her eyes on the creature on his shoulder not being able to clearly distinguish what it was.

"Grunt! There's something on your back!" As Grunt turned to face her a blue wave of biotic power gushed right past him and over his shoulder. As he regained his footage the realization of what had happened suddenly slapped him in the face.

"Mr. Wiggums!" The Krogan roared as he turned to look where the tiny creature had been. Jack walked up to Grunt and saw horror in his face as he fell onto his knees. She looked down on the creature she had just blasted and her eyebrows arched in confusion as Grunt slowly picked it up.

""What the hell Krogan? Was that a stupid cat?" Jack crossed her arms and leaned forward to peek at what Grunt was holding.

"Mr. Wiggums! Please don't be dead!" Grunt held up the tiny creatures corpse up to his face and started to cry.

"What the fuck? It's only a stupid cat. Just get another one." As Jack dismissed herself Grunt rose to his feet and gave a load roared. Jack flinched as the Krogan charged towards her.

"He's not a stupid cat! His name is Mr. Wiggums and he was my friend!" Jack jumped out of the way as the Krogan bashed into the wall on the other side of the corridor. Jack flipped him off and walked back down to her hidey hole in hopes of avoiding a collision with the massive crewmember.

1-1-1-1-

Miranda was sitting in her desk looking over some mission reports when her door suddenly hissed. As she looked up she was surprised to see Grunt at her door. She'd never expected the Krogan to even know where her office was.

"Can I help you with some… What the hell is in your hands?" Miranda turned her gaze at the smoking pile of fur in the Krogan's hands. She pinched her nose and wafted her hand in front of her. "Ugh… It smells like burned. What the hell is that?"

Grunt walked up to her desk and placed the creature in her desk, his face hanging with sorrow.

"Please. You have to revive him. He's my friend." Grunt pleaded with Miranda as she sat there staring at the corpse in disgust.

"What the hell is that Grunt?"

"It's Mr. Wiggums. Please, revive him like you revived the commander." Grunt picked up the creatures corpse and shoved in closer to Miranda's face.

"Ew. Grunt that's disgusting! I'm not going to even touch that." By then Miranda was almost near the wall on the other end of her office. Grunt walked closer to her still holding the dead kitten in front of him.

"I know you can bring him back. Now get your Cerberus toys and revive him like you revived the commander." Grunt's voice was beginning to fill with anger. Miranda was dumbfounded and had to take a minute to process what was going on.

"You want Cerberus to spend billions of credits just to bring back your dumb pet?" She pushed Grunts hands away from her face and walked back to her desk. "I'm sorry Grunt but we can't do that. The Lazarus Project was very expensive and we couldn't waste resources on bringing back a meaningless creature." Grunt's face became rigid.

"But if you bring him back you can upgrade him. Then he wouldn't be useless. You can give him laser eyes that could cut through a Geth's armor. And razor sharp teeth and claws! You could turn him into a killing machine! Then it would be worth the billions of credits spent." Miranda just stared at Grunt in disbelief.

"I'm sorry Grunt, but that's just not going to happen. Now please get that creature out of here. It's stinking up my office." With that Grunt gave her a quick humph and stormed out of her office.

1-1-1-1-1

Kelly was sorting through some e-mails when she heard muffled sobs behind her. She turned only to see Grunt standing behind her. She was about to greet him when she saw the poor creatures burnt corpse in his hands.

"Oh no! What happened to Mr. Wiggums?" The Yeoman held both her hands to her mouth. Grunt sobbed and turned up to look at her.

"That beastly creature named Jack killed my friend… I asked Miranda to revive him but she refused." Kelly placed her arms around the Krogan and comforted him as best she could. There was nothing she could do for his friend either. She told him that they would give Mr. Wiggums a proper funeral and that he had gone to the big litter box in the sky.

The next morning at 0800 the crew of the Normandy assembled at the cargo bay area. A few rows of chairs had been placed in front of table with a small cardboard box on top. The tiny shoebox had been decorated with glitter and flowers. The crew sat down and Yeoman Kelly took center stage. Grunt stared at her though teary eyes as she eulogized his tiny friend. The crew still couldn't believe that they had been called out this early to have a funeral for a cat. After Yeoman Kelly was done speaking Grunt walked to the handmade casket and picked it up. He walked towards the airlock and sent the remains of his tiny friend into space. As he turned to walk back to his room Kelly approached him and gave him a hug.

"If there's anything else you need just let me know." Grunt picked up his head and a smile came across his face.

"Can I have a puppy now?" Kelly rolled her eyes and walked out of the cargo hold area wishing she would have never sneaked the creature in in the first place.

A/N: This whole thing played out in my head while I was at work. I don't know if it was the boredom or just the fact that I have strange ideas that made me put this into writing. I really have no idea what this is about but if you can make sense of it please review.


End file.
